A day has passed since Travlon died. Today is the Remembrance. It is an… Event, sort of. A way of talking about the person that died, remember the good parts, cry, walk with them for a while and then celebrate their influence in our lives by feasting, together. It is a two day feast, since there are too many to be accommodated inside the Leader’s house. For some reason, we only have those feasts indoors. I think it is about dealing with the loss or… Saying farewell. Of course, We thought that everyone should have a day to rest, especially Julie. Sylvar decided not to appear. Someone needed to stay with Monster and he wished to avoid any problems. It is noon and all Villagers are outside Travlon’s house, where the body rests, wrapped in clothing. There is no wind, no clouds. Nothing. The storm that hit us when Travlon died has left its mark, but the sky is clear now. As if the world itself is mocking us. Everyone has gathered around Travlon’s completely covered body. The entire Village. The Leader is about to make a speech. I am standing next to my dads, Meuko and Julie.
“For years, Travlon has made sure that food was never an issue in our Village. He always met our needs… When he was not working, he helped with our homes, fixing storage problems and managing supplies. These are qualities that by themselves make him a great Dwarf. But there were two other important parts of his life. One was Modesta, his friend, always fighting about magic and its uses...” Everyone chuckles, even Hollis. “What if magic could make food here, what if it burned it there, what if those same storage problems could be avoided with... “storage” magic and other arguments they kept shouting about out in the open. The other was Hollis… His beloved wife, they worked together. What some people may have forgotten is that Travlon was actually really… Really terrible when it came to food gathering. I tried to stop him many times but he always said the same thing. I repair whatever damned thing you want me to repair, run around those kids without throwing them in the river and that somehow feels good… But nothing, nothing compares to my wife teaching me about the wild, her face lighting up like the Sun over the mountains… No matter how much I suck at it.”
Hollis bursts into tears, with Modesta hugging her. They are both hurting, but Modesta is more focused on comforting Hollis.
“That same determination and love for his wife is how I want to remember Travlon. I hope you do the same.”
Everyone is looking at Modesta and Hollis. I am not sure if they are just sad about Hollis or if they are just expecting a speech from Modesta.
“I will not be giving any speeches… Anything I have to say about Travlon is private. Except for the stupid belief that I can just create food.”
Some people burst into laughter, some people are crying. There are kids running around and playing. Every once in a while, they stop to look at us but quickly lose interest, deciding that chasing each other is more fun. They are not wrong. I remember when I was a kid during one of these Remembrances. The difference was that I was a part of it, staying next to Julie, trying to keep my composure.
Father of two, Meuko and Julielle... Sacrificed himself protecting our beloved kids.
Shit… These things make me emotional. I need to get stronger. I hate these things happening again and again. I need to get stronger.
“Vol?” Julie asks.
“What?” I say.
“You said something.” Meuko says.
“Sorry… Nothing important.” I say.
I must have been thinking out loud.
“Gotta go.” Meuko says, moving towards Travlon’s body.
Eadwald and Meuko lift the wooden board that Travlon is on. They start carrying the body towards the Leader’s house, with us following behind. There is mostly silence, except for the occasional laughter of kids and the crying of adults. Hollis and Modesta did not join us. Instead, they entered Travlon’s… No, Hollis’ house. I suppose this is overwhelming.
“There was nothing I could do.” Julie says.
“You have done more than anyone else could.” I say.
“That is right, my dear.” Dariy says.
“Definitely more than he deserved.” Ean says.
“Dad, not now.”
Dariy punches Ean in the arm, trying to make sure he behaves.
“Regardless… I have to improve my magic.” Julie says.
“I already did something about that. I convinced Eadwald to teach you some magic.” I say.
“You what? When?”
“When this is all over, I guess.”
The body is rested on the Lea der’s garden outside his house. Meuko joins us right as the rest of the Villagers disperse. Everyone will gather again at night for the feasts.
“What is our plan?” Meuko says.
“There are plans?” Ean says.
“I think it is about time we tended our field.” Dariy says.
“And we are supposed to let them?”
“Yes, my overprotective love, we are. Let us go now.”
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They walk off, one of them more willingly than the other. We start heading towards Meuko and Julie’s house.
“What is happening? Why did he die? How did he get sick? Why was he after Sylvar? Why did he stab me? Why-”
“Calm down, Volt.” Meuko says.
“She is right. We think about what we know, no more, no less.” Julie says.
“Alright. The plan is simple. We become more dependable. Make a name for ourselves helping everyone.”
“We have been doing that already. Me, Sylvar and Julie, at least.” Meuko says, chuckling.
“Stop it, Meu.” Julie says.
“No” I say, looking intensely at Julie. “She is right. I will do that as much as I can. But this time, we need to do it as part of a group. As Hunters.”
“I get it. Make ourselves useful overall, the other three cannot tell us to stop going outside.” Meuko says.
“Exactly. Of course, we train even more. Learn stuff and more importantly…” I look around, making sure no one is near. “We read a few books.” I whisper.
“I hope there is something on goblins.” Meuko says.
“Or healing magic.” Julie says.
“I need to talk to Sylvar, as well.” I say.
“Why?” Meuko says.
“I want him to teach me a few things about archery.”
“But you use knives.” Julie says.
“And you barely know how to use them.” Meuko says
“I got it, thanks Meuko. If that fight with the goblins taught me anything, it is that knowing how to use only one weapon is not enough. Sylvar used a bow, a short sword and a knife. I had to use small spears. I have to learn about other weapons as well.” I say.
“Makes sense. I want to improve my throwing range.” Meuko says.
“See? We can all improve.” I say.
“Some of us more than others.” Meuko says.
“Sis…” Julie says.
“What? Just stating the obvious.” Meuko says.
We all chuckle and then go our separate ways. I decided not to attend the feasts. Instead, I spent those two days training. I made a deal with Blago. All he had to do was teach me how to effectively fight in unarmed and spear combat. In return, I will have to do some tasks that require a few expeditions. I need the practice, anyways.
“Did you inspect that staff?” I said.
“Not gonna lie kid, I completely forgot about it.” Blago said.
“Great.”
“What about you? How come you ditch the feasts?”
“I would not know what to do...”
“What do you mean? Just remember the happy Travlon.”
“Not that simple, Blago.”
“It actually is that simple. You just overthink it. Because you are a kid.”
“If you knew…”
“I do know. Modesta told me.”
“What?”
“What can I say… We got drunk right after Travlon died. He came here during the storm and just told me to drink with him.”
“Modesta… Spent one of his valuable alcoholic bottles on you.”
“I really am worth it. Now, back to you.”
“No.”
“Maybe it would help you kid.”
“How would it help me?”
“You could see that he was not just some random dude that decided to stab you.”
“I already know that much. He practically told me.”
“When he was sick?”
“Yes.”
“Now that is an interesting turn of events.”
“More importantly, what do you want me to bring?”
“Really? An outing so soon.”
“Is it about that strange metal you keep clanging these days?”
“You… Noticed.” Blago looked surprised.
“So?”
“Yes. I need certain chunks of rocks fused with metal. From the old mines.”
“Old mines. Because… I definitely know of them.”
“They are north-east. We used to occupy them before the goblins took them.”
“What? Goblins? We used to be outside the Village? One thing at a time.”
“Calm down, you useless sack of berries, no need to confuse your limited brain. Once you bring me what I need, I will do you a favor by telling you what happened. That should satisfy even your childish curiosity.”
“I will gladly take weapons or armor instead of a story.”
“You are gonna ask your daddies.”
“Yes… Yes, I am.”
“Off you go. We train for a few days and then you venture out there.”
“See you later.”
The rest of the week I did something that I had never done in my life. I helped all around the Village. Sylvar and Meuko were constantly around, making sure I did not destroy anything. Weirdly enough, I handled myself while supporting all around. I learned how to clear the fields from debris caused by the storm. There was a lot of work to be done. Nobody felt up to it while the Remembrance was going on. Losing Travlon from a sudden disease made everyone more scared. Somehow… It made me feel the need to do as much as possible. I trained, I helped everyone, I smiled as much as I could, trying to make myself more likable. I need people to trust me. Sylvar and Julie took turns caring for Monster. Sylvar spent a few days trying to communicate with it and apparently… It worked, somehow. Monster learned how to stay around the Village, out of sight until someone whistled in a way that unfortunately… I cannot whistle. Sylvar also taught Monster how to stay close to him. While he was busy learning how to bond with Monster, I had to learn how to communicate with other beasts inside the Village. Specifically… The kids. All twelve of them. Apparently, I became famous around the Village as the one that wanted to become a Hunter. Every day, when all work was done, the kids gathered around me, waiting for some sort of wisdom or a funny joke, maybe a story. I thought the Villagers were avoiding me but in reality they were worried about suddenly making requests. They were too nervous and tried to be as supportive as they could, in their own way. Apparently, everyone wanted another group of Hunters and they were afraid that they would scare me away from that role. At least, that made my plan immensely easier. The only downside was that everyone kept asking me if I felt guilty about Travlon’s death. A result of my decision to not show up for the feasts, I suppose. Even Thando suggested that my work is improving.
“Keep working like that.” He said… Once. I take it as goodwill.
I had Meuko try to convince Blago that he should teach every single person in the Village the basics of combat. Some sort of self defense, better than the generic exercising that they are being taught. Of course, Meuko and I both know that he would not be up for it but that was not the reason we pushed him that hard. We needed him to reach out to Thando instead. I do not know if that worked yet. Our group trained mostly in private, so I do not know what we collectively learned. Eadwald suggested we focused on our own fighting styles instead of looking at others, getting confused and all that. The bruises and cuts I have gained is the only result I can show for my fighting efforts. I am still good with a knife, but I barely managed to deflect a few blows against Blago’s swordsmanship. I improved considerably when it came to unarmed combat. Eadwald had a different style than Blago, which allowed me to see different fighting forms. The most important bit I learned was how to turn an enemy’s lunge into my favor. I also learned how to throw a spear with enough force in an area above me. Sylvar was pretty pushy about that particular skill.
“We were extremely fortunate in that battle, my friend. Sometimes… They might have the better ground.”
He was strong in that battle so I definitely want to listen to his advice. He is the main reason I am still here and not some sort of bloody paste on a hill somewhere. Tomorrow, I go outside with Meuko and Sylvar. There are things to be done.